By Erica Smith
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

BANGUI, Central African Republic — The International Criminal Court (ICC) has opened up an investigation into alleged war crimes taking place in the struggling Central African Republic (CAR).

The preliminary investigation is going to look into recent account of violence in the country, including lynchings and beheading. Fatou Bensouda, the ICC chief prosecutor, has reviewed many reports of “extreme brutality” and her offices feels  that allegations of crimes committed “possibly fall within the ambit of the jurisdiction of the ICC”.

“The allegations include hundreds of killings, acts of rape and sexual slavery, destruction of property, pillaging, torture, forced displacement and recruitment and use of children in hostilities….In many incidents, victims appear to have been deliberately targeted on religious grounds.”” Bensouda said in a statement.

The CAR has been plagued by violence since Seleka Rebels, who are Muslim, overthrew the government in March of 2013. The conflict has recently started to show religious undertones with the Seleka fighting mainly Christin groups known as as anti-balaka (machete), the favorite weapon of the Seleka.

The efforts of the ICC will be in carried out in conjunction with the African Union and the UN. “In conformity with the complementarity principle, my Office will also be engaging with the CAR authorities with a view to discussing ways and means to bring perpetrators to account, including at the national level,” Bensouda said

The African Union and France have sent troops to the CAR to try to restore order, but so far they have been unsuccessful.

On Wednesday soldiers publicly lynched a suspected ex-Seleka member after a military ceremony. The UN refugee agency said 9,000 people, mostly Muslims, have fled to neighboring Cameroon over the past 10 days alone. The violence has see a marked increase in recent weeks  and has “reached intolerable and unprecedented levels,” the Doctors Without Borders group said in a statement Friday.

“Civilians remain in constant fear for their lives, and have been largely left to fend for themselves,” the charity’s emergency coordinator Martine Flokstra said.

CAR is a signatory to the Rome Statute, which led to the formation of ICC. The court has jurisdiction over genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

 

For further information please see:

Aljazeera — ICC to open war crimes probe in CAR– 8 February 2014

BBC News — ICC opens CAR ‘war crimes’ preliminary investigation — 7 February 2014

Detroit Free Press — Muslims flee sectarian violence in Central African Republic amid war crimes probe — 7 February 2014

Global Post — ICC launches C.Africa war crimes probe — 7 February 2014

 

By: Danielle L. Gwozdz
Impunity Watch News Reporter, Africa

KIGALI, Rwanda – A Rwandan paramilitary police chief found guilty of genocide by a UN-backed war crimes tribunal has been acquitted on appeal.

The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda convicted Gen. Augustin Ndindiliyimana in 2011 of genocide, murder and other serious violations of international law for his role in the 1994 Rwandan atrocities.

The former commander of a military reconnaissance battalion, Francois-Xavier Nzuwonemeye, also was acquitted, along with Ndindiliyimana.

Ndindiliyimana was one of the highest ranking officers convicted of taking part in genocide. He was tried alongside Augustin Bizimungu, Rwanda’s former army chief of staff, who was sentenced in 2011 for 30 years. Bizimungu also appealed; however, the special court requested more information on his case.

The judgment said it took into account that Ndindiliyimana had “limited command over the gendarmerie after April 6, 1994 . . . and his opposition to the massacres in Rwanda.”

The BBC says Ndindiliyimana has been living in an International Criminal Tribunal safe house in the Tanzanian town since his release after he was sentenced nearly three years ago.

The appeals chamber said Tuesday that it reversed his conviction because the prosecution conceded that there was no evidence that supported his conviction.

“Consequently, Ndindiliyimana, who had been sentenced to time served by the trial chamber, was acquitted of all counts of indictment,” the court said in a statement.

Ndindiliyimana has been in custody for more than a decade.

Commemorations of the 20^th anniversary of the genocide, in which 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed in just 100 days, have already begun, even as efforts to find and punish those responsible go on.

Last week in Paris, a French court opened to genocide trial of a former Rwandan intelligence chief in the first prosecution there of former officials and others who fled Rwanda.

BBC states that Ndindiliyimana is unable to return to Rwanda and that no other country will take him.

Rwanda’s genocide was sparked by the death of former President Juvenal Habyarimana who was killed when his plane was shot down close to the capital, Kigali, on April 6, 1994.

Within hours of the attack, certain members of the government organized ethnic Hutu militias across the country to systematically kill Tutsis and moderate Hutus.

The appeals chamber also found that the trial chamber committed errors of law and fact and concluded that Ndindiliyimana could not be held criminally responsible.

For more information, please visit:
BBC News – Rwanda’s Augustin Ndindiliyimana cleared of genocide – 11 February 2014
CitifmOnline – Rwanda’s Augustin Ndindiliyimana cleared of genocide – 11 February 2014
ICTJ – Rwanda’s Augustin Ndindiliyimana cleared of genocide – 11 February 2014
GhHeadlines – Rwanda’s Augustin Ndindiliyimana cleared of genocide – 12 February 2014
Nets247.com – Rwanda’s Augustin Ndindiliyimana cleared of genocide – 11 February 2014
UPI – Rwandan genocide court reverses charges – 11 February 2014
NY Times – U.N. Court, on Appeal, Acquits 2 Rwandans in 1994 Genocide – 11 February 2014
Africa Press Review – Rwanda’s Augustin Ndindiliyimana cleared of genocide – 11 February 2014

 

By: Danielle L. Gwozdz
Impunity Watch News Reporter, Africa

BANGUI, Central African Republic – Religious violence in the Central African Republic (CAR) could force its entire Muslim population to flee, a senior human rights worker has told BBC.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) emergency director Peter Bouckaert said this could affect the economy, as Muslims control the livestock market and other businesses.

HRW has called for a UN peacekeeping mission as Muslims are dying by the thousands and many are fleeing.

“We are in a moment where immediate action is needed to stop the killings,” Bouckaert said, calling for a full-fledged UN peacekeeping mission. “Otherwise the future of the Muslim community of this country will be gone.”

The violence has reached an intolerable level. Many of the Muslim population have fled to Chad or Cameroon.

Muslims make up about 15% of CAR’s 4.6 million people. More than 800,000 people have fled their homes – about half of those from the capital, according to the UN.

“There are some who don’t want Muslims in this country,” Prime Minister Andre Nzapayeke said on the local radio on Saturday. “But when the Muslims have left the country, what happens next? The Protestants will throw out the Catholics, and then the Baptists against the Evangelists, and finally the animists? It is time we regain control and stop ourselves from plunging into an abyss.”

Bouckaert has said that at least 10 people had died this past week in the capital.

He said he had personally witnessed a Muslim being hacked to death in Bangui, in retaliation for the reported killing of 6 people by Muslim fighters.

Thousands of Muslims left Bangui in a massive convoy on Friday that was jeered by crowds of Christians. One Muslim who fell off of a truck was quickly killed by the mob.

Muslim people who could not get on the trucks tried to hand their children to strangers aboard the vehicles.

Whole neighborhoods are abandoned and Muslims who cannot leave are hiding inside mosques that have not already been set ablaze or destroyed by angry crowds.

Entire Muslim communities also have left towns in the rural northwest, sometimes only to come under attack from Christian militiamen and die while trying to get out of the anarchic country.

No one knows the true death toll from the two months of the worst inter-communal violence in this country’s history. It is often too dangerous for crews to recover the corpses.

More than 1,000 people were killed during several days of fighting in early December, when a Christian militia attempted to overthrow the Muslim rebel government then in power.

For more information, please visit:
BBC News – Violence could force out CAR’s Muslim population – HRW – 9 February 2014
Mail & Guardian – CAR Muslims targets of mob violence – 9 February 2014
The Frontier Post – \”CAR\’s Muslim civilians\” \’at risk\’ – 9 February 2014
The Denver Post – Thousands of Muslims are fleeing Central African Republic amid mob violence – 9 February 2014

 

By: Danielle L. Gwozdz
Impunity Watch News Reporter, Africa

TRIPOLI, Libya – At least six children have been injured by a grenade attack in a Benghazi, Libya school.

Witnesses say the grenade was thrown over a wall into a private school during a break from lessons.

The blast damaged part of the building and some victims were seriously wounded.

Blasts and assassinations are not uncommon in Benghazi, where security forces are battling Islamist militants tied to the Ansar al-Sharia group. Washington has listed this group as a foreign terrorist organization.

Benghazi, the city from which the 2011 uprising that toppled dictator Muammar Qaddafi stemmed, saw a series of attacks in recent months as the weak central government has tried to rein in former rebel brigades turned militias.

Fadia al-Barghathi, a spokesperson for Benghazi’s hospital, stated: “The injuries range between light and moderate.”

A security official described the force of the explosion as “weak” and said that a hunt was underway for those behind the attack.

A medic revealed that two of the six children are in critical condition and were taken to the Beghazi medical centre.

The gunmen, later in the night, attacked Al-Saiqa checkpoint at Al-Jala hospital, sparking a firefight, which, thankfully, left no injuries.

Two days ago, the son of Libya’s special forces chief was kidnapped by gunmen in Benghazi.

A military source said the abduction was aimed at pressuring the special forces to bring about the release of prisoners held by the army.

The special forces had announced last month the arrest of four suspects in possession of a hit list of officers to be targeted or had been killed.

Militia brigades often fight “turf wars” for control of areas and businesses, and they have refused to disarm.

For more information, please visit:

BBC News – Libyan blast injures six children at Benghazi school – 5 February 2014
Reuters – Blast at Libya school wounds six children – hospital, security sources – 5 February 2014
Yahoo! News – Blast at school in Libya’s Benghazi wounds six children – 5 February 2014
Al Arabia News – Blast at school in Libya’s Benghazi wounds children – 5 February 2014
The Daily Star – Playground bomb wounds 12 kids in Libya’s Benghazi: medics – 5 February 2014

 

By: Danielle L. Gwozdz
Impunity Watch News Reporter, Africa

BANGUI, Central African Republic – The UN believes at least 10,000 troops will eventually be required to end unrest in Central African Republic (CAR), the French UN envoy said.

Yesterday, the UN Security Council unanimously approved a resolution allowing European troops to use force and threatening sanctions against those blamed for the country’s strife.

The European Union is to send up to 600 troops to help African and French forces in the country to try and end clashes between rival Christian and Muslim militias.

Almost one million people (a quarter of the population) have been displaced by fighting since the mostly Muslim Seleka rebel group seized power in March last year in the majority Christian country. At least 2,000 people have been killed.

The African Union force is eventually intended to reach 6,000 troops while France now has 1,600 soldiers in place.

The UN resolution also allows for asset freeze and travel ban sanctions against the ringleaders of groups blamed for massacres and human rights abuses. It did not name initial targets.

Ambassador Gerard Araud described the situation in CAR as “very, very dire.”

Araud said the African Union force in the country, intending to reach 6,000 troops, “is considered now too low because frankly the situation is very, very dire and the country is huge.”

He said the resolution was a “new stage” in efforts to help CAR out of the strife in which thousands are feared killed and more than 900,000 people have fled their homes.

Security council members have been alarmed by the vicious cycle of vengeance between Muslim and Christian militias in CAR, said the BBC’s Nada Tawfik in New York.

The United Nations had warned that the conflict in the landlocked former French colony could spiral into genocide.

CAR’s interim President Catherine Samba-Panza said on Tuesday that she had written to the UN to call for the African peacekeeping force to be transformed into a larger UN operation. She said the violence had continued despite the presence of African and French forces.

“It means that the number of troops is insufficient to restore and ensure security for the population,” she said.

On Monday, UN human rights chief Navi Pillay said the situation was getting even worse despite the inauguration of a new leader last week.

A day after reports, at least 13 people were killed. Eleven people were killed in the violence on Tuesday and 26 others were wounded.

“It’s really quite a challenge because there is an incredible amount of resentment and hatred between the two communities,” Aurad said.

He also said that transforming the African force into a UN operation would bring guaranteed funding and an experienced civilian component to help rebuild CAR’s state institutions, which have basically disintegrated.

CAR is rich in gold and diamonds but years of unrest and poor governance have left most of its 4.6 million people in poverty.

For more information, please visit:
BBC News – Central African Republic: UN ‘may need 10,000 troops’ – 28 January 2014
The Peninsula – UN backs EU force, sanctions in Central Africa – 29 January 2014
Yahoo! News – Central African Republic wants U.N. force as EU troops OKed – 28 January 2014
AFP – UN backs EU force in Central Africa amid troops push – 28 January 2014
Japan Today – U.N. backs EU force in Central African Republic – 29 January 2014
The Guardian – UN backs force, sanctions in Central Africa Republic – 28 January 2014